Abstract:
MUSEUMS TEACHING PLANET EARTH (MuTPE) is an innovative concept in outreach recently selected to be a member of the ESIP (Earth Science Information Partnership) Federation, a program of NASA's Office of Earth Science. An expansion of the successful "Public Connection" program funded by NASA's Learning Technologies Program, this program uses three independent mechanisms for educating the public about Earth science...

EARTH UPDATE

THE GLOBE THEATER

THE EARTH FORUM

Each of these projects is being developed at Rice University and the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS) and field tested at HMNS and at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH). As each product is fully tested it will be available for replication at other museums and schools around the nation.

We have created the "Public Connection" in collaboration with the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS), by developing interactive real-time displays of real-time earth and space science data. The "Space Update" software has now been fully field-tested by over 800,000 visitors and is available for purchase for display at museums and schools! The all-new "Earth Update" software is also ready for sale. This project was initially funded by NASA/Goddard's Digital Library Technology Project and is now part of the Learning Technologies Program. "Earth Update" is funded by NASA's Office of Earth Science. Our logo, a 6-pointed star, is created from interlocking triangles. The silver triangle symbolizes observing space from the Earth (the bottom point is man with two upward arms reaching to the solar system on the left and the galaxy and beyond on the right). The blue triangle symbolizes observing Earth from space (the top point is a spacecraft viewing down to observe the curved Earth below). The former symbolizes our "Space Update" software - the second, our "Earth Update" software.